The Bank of England is likely to keep interest rates on hold until the middle of next year rather than raising them sooner, following a gloomier outlook for the global economy, according to the economic forecaster CEBR, The Guardian reported. The Centre for Economics and Business Research now believes a rise in May or August 2016 is more likely than one in February, its previous prediction. Signs of a global economic slowdown have been growing in recent weeks, especially in the world’s second-largest economy China and emerging markets.

A tax bill for about €150 million, mainly arising from unpaid income tax owed by the former Anglo Irish Bank, is likely to be appealed by the special liquidators to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, the State-owned entity into which Anglo was subsumed, the Irish Times reported. The massive tax bill, thought to be one of the largest ever submitted to a State- owned body, arises in the main from the interpretation of rules in relation to income tax and straddles the period before and after the former bank was nationalised.

Norway’s central bank cut interest rates to a fresh record low as it battled to overcome a slump in oil prices that has hit the economy of western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer harder than during the financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. Norges Bank cut its overnight deposit rate, the amount that banks earn by parking their spare cash at the central bank, by 25 basis points to 0.75 per cent and warned that more cuts were possible.

Volkswagen AG is facing billions in fines after admitting it rigged U.S. emissions tests, but it likely has the financial wherewithal to handle the monetary hit, The Wall Street Journal The CFO Report blog reported. The German car maker could pay more than $18 billion in fines from U.S. environmental regulators and also faces a U.S. criminal investigation related to the scandal that has roiled the company. European officials are also calling for an investigation.

International financial institutions, led by the World Bank, are patching together a $1 billion financing package to help Ukraine and its energy giant OAO Naftogaz to fill up its natural gas-storage facilities and avoid shortages in the conflict-ridden country and the rest of Europe over the winter, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Europe must urgently confront a growing mountain of bad loans if there is to be a revival in bank lending that is essential to the continent’s economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. In the years following the financial crisis, a rising number of businesses and households around the world found it difficult to meet interest payments on their debts. But the IMF said the problem of nonperforming loans, as those debts are known, has become particularly acute in Europe.

Britain’s steelmakers are urging the government to rescue the industry from a “perfect storm” that has pushed one of the UK’s largest steelworks to the edge of closure, The Guardian reported. UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said its members were facing their most difficult situation since privatisation 27 years ago after battling cheap imports, which are pushing down prices to unsustainable levels. The threatened closure of the largest steelworks on Teesside has sent shockwaves through the industry, leading unions and employers to call on the government for extra support.

As Germany has emerged as the dominant actor in Europe, it has lectured Greece and other debtor nations on the virtues of thrift and lately wagged its finger at countries that balk at receiving a share of refugees from the killing fields of Syria. Its right to lead, based on a narrative of self-sacrifice and obedience to rules, was generally acknowledged, the International New York Times reported. That is one reason the Volkswagen scandal has shaken the country’s very core.

Ukraine says it will halt paying off its external debt on Wednesday, facing the risk of a technical default. The list of non-payments doesn’t include the $3 billion owed to Russia, RT.com reported. The debt to Moscow is due in December which Russia has insisted it wants in full. According to a document published on the website of the Ukrainian government, the restructuring applies to the $3 billion Eurobonds purchased by Russia. However, payments on them have not been suspended. The list included seven issues of Ukrainian government bonds.

In a related story, Bloomberg News reported that a committee of credit-default swaps traders said that Ukraine’s decision to freeze bond payments may trigger payouts on contracts insuring against losses on the country’s debt. The ruling is the first step toward a so-called credit event that would allow the settlement of about $396 million of the derivatives contracts, the International Swaps & Derivatives Association said on its website Wednesday. Ukraine would have to actually miss the payment before any final decision is made, the group said.